


tale as old as time

by fanmoose12



Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Beauty and the Beast AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Tumblr Prompt, hange is a furry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23794360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanmoose12/pseuds/fanmoose12
Summary: based on a tumblr prompt: beauty and the beast levihan version, maybe?
Relationships: Hange Zoë/Levi
Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1705417
Comments: 14
Kudos: 107





	tale as old as time

Hange was livid, she was _seething._ How dare this man, this beast, _whoever he was_ , treat Hange’s friend like this? How dare he treat sweet Moblit, Hange’s dearest and most loyal friend, as though he was a mere criminal?

Hange never let anyone hurt her friends, and beast or no beast, she wouldn’t let him hurt Moblit too.

“Release him,” she commanded with hands on her hips.

The Beast’s head snapped to stare at her. “ _Pardon me?”_ he said in disbelief. “I should do _what?_ ”

“Release him,” Hange repeated impatiently. “ _Immediately_.”

The Beast closed the distance between them swiftly. He stopped right in front of Hange, looming over her. “You are forgetting yourself,” he growled right in Hange’s face. The Beast was twice as big as Hange, but she showed no sign of fear, staring defiantly at him. She wouldn’t let him intimidate her so easily. “Your friend is a thief and he more than deserves his punishment. And you should treat me with respect if you don’t want to join him in that sell.”

“A thief?” Hange cried out. “He took a single flower!”

“He stole a rose from my garden!” The beast leered furiously at her.

“It was I who asked him for it! It’s me who you should punish not him!”

The Beast moved so fast Hange barely noticed it. He made his way to the door of the sell and with a low growl, he pushed the door open. Then he grabbed Moblit by his shirt and threw him on the ground. A moment later, Hange felt Beast’s claws circle around her wrist as he shoved her inside the cell, closing the door shut with a loud bang.

“Are you satisfied?” The Beast asked as he watched Hange slowly regain her footing. “Will you stop shrieking now?”

Before Hange could throw another insult at the Beast, she saw how Moblit was carefully getting up to his feet, his hand already outstretched towards the Beast. Hange knew what her friend wanted to do, he would try to plead with the monster, asking him to spare Hange’s life and take his in return. She wouldn’t let him do it, she couldn’t let him protect her this time.

So she looked at the Beast with determination in her gaze. “If you will let Moblit go, then I’ll stay here as long as you see fit.”

The Beast looked at her skeptically. “That could be a very long time.”

Hange didn’t shudder at the iciness of his voice or the fury in his eyes. “I don’t care. Just let him go.”

To Hange’s surprise, the Beast sighed and it was such a human sound, so different from the angry threats Hange heard before that she wondered what exactly her captor was. “If you really wish to take his place, then so be it. I don’t care which one of you will be rotting here.”

And then he turned around, walking away from Hange. He stopped to look down at Moblit, staring at him for a moment, as though contemplating his next moves.

“You have five minutes to say your goodbyes. Then I don’t want to see your face in this castle ever again.”

Moblit gulped and then slowly nodded, too terrified to do anything else.

The moment Beast left the dungeon, Moblit shot up to his feet and ran up to Hange. His hands gripped the metal bars of her cell tightly, as he looked at her with desperation.

“Why did you do this?” he asked her in a broken voice. “He is a monster! God knows what he can do to you!”

Hange gently covered Moblit’s hands with her. “Don’t worry, Moblit,” she whispered, smiling encouragingly. “You know me, I can take care of myself.”

“You should have let me stay in that cell,” Moblit lamented.

“Oi, take a look at the bright side of this. I mean, have you seen that creature?”

“Of course, I did!” Moblit threw his hands in the air. “He is an enormous monster who can easily kill you!”

“He is big, isn’t he?” Hange grinned almost maniacally. Moblit shuddered as he saw the too familiar expression on her face. Suddenly and unexpectedly he felt sorry for the Beast. The Beast intrigued Hange and Moblit knew from experience that there was nothing in the world that can stand between Hange and her thirst for knowledge. “Moblit, just think of all the things I can learn from studying him! This is the opportunity of a lifetime!”

Moblit shook his head. “You never change,” he mumbled.

Suddenly they heard the Beast’s heavy steps and they both knew their time was running out.

Hange smiled at Moblit, staring fondly at him. “Thank you for always taking care of me, Moblit. You are a great friend.”

“Be safe and try not to do something stupid,” Moblit nodded, smiling in return. And while his smile was as filled with affection as Hange’s, there was some sadness too. “I’ll be waiting for your return.” He told her at last and then he was gone, leaving Hange alone in the dark and cold cell.

However, soon Hange stopped feeling cold from the damp walls as a thousand questions began running through her mind. What exactly was the Beast? He looked like a monster, but talked like a human. Hange even have to admit that he behaved like a human, albeit a very angry and rude one. How was the Beast created? _Was_ he created or was he born like this? Were there more of his kind? Why hadn’t Hange heard about creatures like that before? Her mind was reeling and Hange ached to see the Beast again, to ask him all these questions and to take another, much closer, look at him. She wanted to take a sample of his hair, to study his teeth and claws, to test his strength and agility. She had already seen that he was both strong and _very_ fast, but she craved to know about his limits.

Oh, there was so much Hange wanted to know! But she knew it was very unlikely that the Beast would let her get so close to him. He didn’t seem to be very fond of her before. She needed to somehow get on his good side, Hange decided. As she was thinking what she should do to win over the heinous beast, the subject of Hange’s immense curiosity came into her view. As she saw him, standing ominously in front of her cell, Hange had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn’t imagining him.

For a long moment, the Beast just stood there, looking at her with distain. Sighing as though he made the hardest decision in his life, the Beast came closer to Hange and slowly unlocked the door of her cell. He stepped aside and looked expectantly at her. When confused Hange didn’t move from her place on the floor, the Beast growled.

“What are you waiting for, four eyes? Just get out of here already!”

“Huh? Am I… am I free?”

“What? No! Don’t be ridiculous,” the Beast looked up, as though searching for his next words. “It… it has come to attention that humans cannot live in such harsh conditions. So I… I’ve arranged a room for you,” the Beast finished awkwardly.

Despite herself, Hange grinned at him. “Are you saying you don’t wish for me to die?”

The Beast looked away from Hange with a huff. “If you die, I would need to bury you. And if I leave your dead body in here, then the smell of your rotting flesh would be all over the castle. Either way, it’s much easier to just let you spend your sentence in the room upstairs.”

“And how long would my sentence be?”

“I told you already, four-eyes, you’ll stay here for as long as I see fit.”

Not knowing how to answer this and not wanting to anger the Beast again, Hange followed after him as he led her out of the dungeon.

As she walked up the stairs, Hange thought about Beast’s words. He said that he had arranged a room for her, did that mean that there was someone else living in this castle? Another question popped up in her head and before she could stop herself, Hange asked.

“You haven’t told me your name. How should I call you?”

For a second, Beast looked at her in surprise, but then his face returned to its previous, bored expression. “I don’t care how you call me, four-eyes, and I’m not telling you my name.”

Hange huffed in annoyance, it was so difficult talking to him! “If you don’t want me to know your name, that’s fine, but stop calling me four-eyes. My name is Hange.”

“I don’t give a damn about your name and I will call you however I want.”

Before Hange could say anything else, the Beast opened the door to her new room and then roughly shoved her inside, closing the door after her.

“The dinner starts at six.” The Beast called from behind the door. “If you want to eat, you better not be late.”

And then Hange heard the sound of his retreating steps. For a few moments, she continued to glare at the closed door, he made her so angry! Hange was so excited to study him, had so many ideas on how to start her research but the moment she actually landed her eyes on the Beast, she could think of nothing but how arrogant and annoying this creature was. Damn him and his stupid rude words!

Hange cursed and headed to the big bed in the center of room. The bed looked soft and comfortable enough, and when Hange took another look around the room, she found that it was also kind of cozy. There was a big wardrobe and a vanity standing beside it, a wide table and even a bookshelf. Although, before Hange had a chance to check what books the bookshelf contained, she felt her eyelids grow heavy. With a loud yawn, she decided to lie down on that big cozy bed. Exhausted by today’s events, she fell asleep the minute her head had hit the pillow.

* * *

Hange was woken up by a quiet whispering. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to discreetly look around the room. It was difficult to see without her glasses on, but Hange was sure she was alone in the room. Then where that whispering had come from?

She strained her ears, if she couldn’t see them, then at least she could listen in on their conversation, right?

“Well, it looks like that idiot was actually right this time,” the voice was low and a little husky, laced with mockery, but it was undeniably female.

“I told you Sasha wouldn’t lie about something like that!” another voice replied, this one was high-pitched, so Hange guessed she was eavesdropping on a conversation between two girls. “Oh, Ymir, do you think she can be the one? Maybe she will be able to finally free us?”

Huh? Were they discussing her? And what exactly they were talking about? Hange decided to listen for a while more.

“I doubt that,” the first girl whispered back. “Have you heard what Sasha said? He threw her friend into a dungeon and then locked her there in his place. Honestly, the girl is lucky Armin was able to persuade Captain into letting her stay here, otherwise she would freeze to death!”

So, they _were_ talking about her! Tired of being a passive spectacular, Hange sat up on the bed, putting her glasses on. But she still remained alone in the room. Hange furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, the voices sounded so close!

“Oi, Ymir, look! She’s getting up, we’ve probably waked her up.” So they were able to see her, but why Hange couldn’t do the same?

“We’re sorry for disturbing you!” the girl with the soft voice said.

“Talk for yourself,” her friend mumbled quietly, but not quiet enough for Hange not to hear it. She chuckled softly, scratching her head.

“I… where are you?” she asked with confused smile. “I can hear you clearly, but I can’t quite see you.”

“We’re right here,” one of the girls replied in bored voice.

“Um, where are you exactly?” Hange squinted into the darkness, trying to see better. “I still can’t see you.”

“We’re here,” Hange heard a resigned, sad voice. “We… we don’t look like you probably expect us to.”

“And how exactly do you look?”

“Come closer to the vanity.”

Hange did as she was told and when she took a better look on the mirror, she could see… she could see something that distinctively looked like a human’s face. She could see the outline of the nose and eyebrows, big eyes and lips, curved into a sad smile.

“Are you real?” Hange asked in a slightly shaking voice. “This is not a dream?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not,” Hange heard an angry sneer next to her. She turned her head to the left, where the sound came from, and saw a wardrobe that also looked like a human.

Confused, Hange took a step back, staring wildly at the pieces of furniture in front of her. Were they just furniture though? Hange wasn’t so sure.

“What… what are you? Are you humans?”

“We _were_ humans,” the voice in the wardrobe said. “But then Captain Levi was cursed and we were cursed alongside him. And now we’re a pair of fucking furnishings!”

“Captain Levi… that’s the name of…”

“A big bad beast, yes,” the girl, because it was a girl and Hange refused to think of her as anything else, sneered.

“I… is there anything I can do to help you?” Hange didn’t know much about magic and curses, _she was a scientist after all,_ but she felt so sorry for those two girls and more than anything, she wanted to ease their burden.

The girl in the vanity obviously wanted to say something to Hange, as her eyes stared in hers pleadingly, but before she had a chance, they heard a knock on the door.

“If you want to help, you can start with opening that door,” the girl in the wardrobe said. Then she sighed. “The others seemed to finally arrive.”

Hange walked up to the door, slowly opened it and was met with quite a bizarre sight. She knew she should have stopped being surprised at anything after her conversation with a vanity and wardrobe, and she _was_ expecting to see something abnormal, but… she totally did not expect _that._ Standing in the corridor was a cart and on it Hange saw a porcelain sugar bowl, an empty cup, a white cattle and a bright yellow candelabrum. The cart was pushed by a broom and a small duster was standing next to it. Hange stared at it, completely speechless.

“So she is real!” a sugar bowl giddily said.

“I told you she was real, guys!” a duster, _a duster_ , shouted. “Why do you never believe me?”

“Er… do you want to come in?” Hange asked as she was slowly overcoming her shock. She carefully took a step closer to the cart and pushed it inside the room.

“Oh, thank you so much, fair lady!” a candelabrum said, and Hange probably imagined it, as she probably had imagined all of it, because she was slowly losing her mind, but it looked like the candelabrum winked at her.

After Hange closed the door, she came to sit at her bed. All of the cutlery and furniture _, no_ , people, Hange had to remind herself, _they were actually people_ , kept shamelessly staring at her.

“I doubt she’ll be able to do it,” the cup announced, as he eyed Hange closely.

“Eren, you don’t know it yet!” the sugar bowl protested.

“No, Eren is right,” the kettle said. “Look at her, it’s obvious she’s quite a messy person, and Captain hates everything that is messy.”

“Oi, guys,” Hange grumbled displeasingly. They were talking about her like she wasn’t in the same room with them! “I’m still here.”

“Oh, right! Forgive our manners!” the vanity cried out. “We should properly introduce ourselves. My name is Historia and this grumpy over there,” she glanced at the wardrobe. “is Ymir.”

Hange nodded, smiling slightly at them.

“I’m Armin,” the sugar bowl introduced himself.

“My name is Eren,” the cup said.

“Mikasa.” It came from the kettle.

“I’m Jean, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the candelabrum gave her a little bow and Hange couldn’t stop herself from giggling at the gesture. She bowed to him in reply.

“I’m Sasha!” the duster said happily. “I was the one who saw you first!”

“And I’m Connie.” The broom finished.

Hange nodded and then took another look at the room, repeating their names in her head and making sure she remembered them all.

“My name is Hange,” she waved at them with a smile. “I guess I’ll be staying in your castle for a while.”

“What did you do?” Mikasa inquired coldly.

“My friend ripped off a rose for me from your gardens. The Beast, his name is Levi, right? Well, he got mad and wanted to throw my friend into the dungeon. I volunteered to take the punishment instead of him and… here I am.” Hange finished with a bitter laugh.

“You stole a flower from his garden and he didn’t bite your head off immediately?” Mikasa’s voice was surprised. “You’re extremely lucky then.”

“Captain has a thing for roses,” Armin explained to a bewildered Hange.

“Oh, I see… no, wait I don’t really, but I guess… I have no choice but to accept it,” Hange shook her head. “Wait, you call him _Captain_ Levi? Were you…?”

“We were soldiers under his command, yes,” Eren answered rather proudly. “You have heard the tales of the great Captain Levi, the strongest knight in all kingdoms, right?”

“Er,” Hange smiled awkwardly. She wasn’t the one for legends and fairy-tales. “Maybe?”

“What?!” Eren asked incredulously. “You’ve actually never heard of him?”

Before he could begin telling his tirade about the strongest knight in all kingdoms, Ymir cut him off with a loud sign.

“What does it matter if she heard tales of him or not, it was a long time ago, she probably wasn’t even born yet.”

“Eh?” Hange was confused. Of course, she didn’t know how they looked in their human forms, but her newfound friends sounded young. Hange thought they were in their twenties, and not older than her. Much older than her, if she was to believe their words. “How old are all of you actually?”

“We were twenty when the witch’s spell cursed us and our Captain, he was older than us, though, already in his thirties,” Armin told her. “Time stopped moving for us since then and… I’m not sure anymore how old are we.”

Hange looked sadly at them. She felt so sorry for them and she wanted to help them so much, but she had no idea what to do.

“Shit!” Jean suddenly cursed as he glanced at the watch in Hange’s room. “It’s five minutes past six, we’re late for dinner! Captain will kill us!”

“Oh, you’re right! We need to hurry!” Connie shouted.

“You guys need to eat?” Hange asked as she watched all of them move around frantically.

“We don’t,” Sasha told her. “But you do and if we won’t hurry up he’ll be pissed off. Even more so than usual.”

Hange doubted that was even possible, but she helped the others leave the room, as she pushed the cart, Sasha and Connie following after her.

When they made it to the dining room, it turned out that Sasha was actually right. When Hange walked into the room, Levi glared at her.

“I told you not to be late, four-eyes,” he hissed. “I will forgive you this time, but next time I won’t be so merciful.”

“How kind of you,” Hange rolled her eyes as she took a sit on the opposite side of the table. Thankfully, it was wide enough so she didn’t have to sit close to Levi.

“You look like a mess,” Levi told her as Hange started eating. The food was actually quite enjoyable, unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about Hange’s company. “If you live under my roof, you should take care about your appearances. I hate messy people.”

“I don’t live under your roof, I’m a prisoner here,” Hange reminded him. “And I don’t have to obey your orders. Especially the ones, regarding my state of cleanliness.”

“We’ll see about that,” Levi promised her coldly.

Then he returned to his meal and Hange did the same. Although, while she was eating, she kept stealing small glances at Levi, fascinated by the way he ate.

Noticing that he was watched, Levi raised his head to glare at Hange. “The fuck you are looking at, four-eyes? Do I have something on my face?”

And no, his face was pristinely clean and that was _incredible._ Despite his big, hairy hands, that looked more like pawns, Levi wasn’t even a little bit clumsy while holding a fork. In fact, he actually ate more gracefully than Hange.

“No, it’s just very interesting. The way you eat, I mean. You don’t seem to have any problems with it.”

“The fact that I’m a monster doesn’t mean I don’t have any fucking manners. Sadly, I can’t say the same thing about you.”

Hange ignored his insult, instead she put her head onto her chin and studied Levi with a mischievous grin. “Can you guess what I’ve found out?” Hange chuckled slightly at Levi’s obviously annoyed face and continued. “I’ve managed to find out about your name. _Captain Levi._ ”

Hange didn’t have to wait long for his reaction. Almost immediately, Levi visibly tensed and clutched his hands into fists. His gaze snapped to the cart in the back of the room, where Jean, Sasha, Connie, Armin, Mikasa and Eren were. Hange also turned to look at them and saw that they watched their exchange with worry in their eyes.

“Who gave you the right to tell this to her?” Levi shouted at the people, who were once his soldiers. “Who let you even talk to her?”

“Oi!” Hange rose from her seat, enraged by Levi’s behavior. “How dare you talk to them like that? They’re this way because of _you,_ they suffer because of _you_ and you have the audacity to shout at them?”

“No one let you speak up, four-eyes,” Levi told her in an icy tone. “I had been nothing but kind to you, I’ve gave you warm room, I let you have dinner with me and this is how you repay me for my kindness?”

“You call that kindness?!” Hange asked incredulously. “If that’s what your _kindness_ looks like then I don’t want it. I would rather starve to death than have another dinner with you!”

Hange got up from the table so abruptly, her chair fell on the ground with a loud bang. She paid no mind to it as she stormed out of the dining room and headed to her bedroom.

She let out a frustrated cry as she slammed the door to her room shut. She grabbed the chair from the floor, lifted it and then smashed it to the ground, letting out another shout. She was so angry, _so furious!_ She understood now why this man was cursed, if that’s how he treated other people, then his punishment surely was too mild for him.

Hange always tried to see something good in everyone, refused to be prejudiced and never believed her first impressions. But this man, this man! She was sure there was nothing good in him, not even an ounce of it. He was just a petty, arrogant and cruel man and Hange loathed the fact that she had to share the roof with him.

Hange would have continued her outrage if she hadn’t heard a frightened squeal coming from Historia. Suddenly she realized how her behavior looked, she came in screaming and smashing chairs, it was no surprise that a girl, trapped inside a furniture, got scared. Hange fixed the glasses on her face and took a deep breath, calming herself.

“I hope that wasn’t one of your friends?” she gestured at the broken chair.

“N-no,” Historia replied, her voice still shaky.

“I’m sorry for my… outburst,” Hange smiled awkwardly.

“The dinner went that bad, huh?” Ymir said and despite not being able to see her face, Hange could hear a smirk in her voice.

“Your Captain is a rather difficult person to handle,” Hange answered without getting into much detail on how much she wanted to punch the annoying bastard.

“Yeah, no shit,” Ymir chuckled.

Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door. Hange immediately went to open it, expecting to see Historia and Ymir’s friends. She needed to apologize to them for earlier. Her stupid, careless words caused Levi to get angry at them, and Hange regretted her actions. She didn’t regret getting Levi angry, she was actually quite pleased about it, but she didn’t want to cause the others even more suffering than they were already enduring.

However, when Hange opened the door she was shocked to see Levi standing in the corridor, his fist raised in the mid-air as he was going to knock again.

Hange immediately tried to shut the door into his face, but Levi prevented her from it, putting his leg out and holding the door tightly in his hands. He was much stronger than Hange, and no matter how stubborn she was, she had to admit her defeat this time.

She crossed her hands on her chest as she regarded the man coolly. “What the fuck do you want? Came to scream at me again?”

Levi cursed as he began glaring at Hange. A second later, though, the fire in his eyes was gone and his face looked a little unsure. “I came to make some peace actually. While I still think that my anger was more than justified, I shouldn’t have reacted so… wildly. I also came to tell you some house rules.”

Hange raised her eyebrow sarcastically. “House rules? Well, I’m all ears than.”

Surprisingly, Levi ignored her jab and calmly continued. “You are free to roam the castle if you have a desire to, the only place you can’t go is the east wing. You are absolutely forbidden from going there, get it, four-eyes?” Levi asked with warning in his voice. He didn’t wait for her to answer and carried on. “You can go to the gardens, but you are not allowed to go further than the castle gates. If you suddenly change your mind on starving to death then dinner always starts at six and I have breakfast at eight o’clock. You can join me, if you wish so, but you cannot be late. I would have also preferred if you started to wear more lady-like clothes,” he stared at Hange’s pants and her crumpled shirt in disgust. “But something tells me, you would not grant me that request. Well, if everything else is understood, than I shall go. Have a good night.”

He nodded at Hange once, and then he was gone, leaving her to stare after him in bewilderment.

* * *

In the next days, Hange began investigating the castle, getting herself better acquainted with that place. Unfortunately, almost all of the rooms of the castle were locked. Including, the big door that led to the east wing, which was a subject of immense curiosity to Hange. Maybe, she wouldn’t have even noticed it, what was another locked door in the castle, where almost all rooms were closed? But Levi specifically forbade her from entering it and that sparkled her interest.

Not daring to ask what was so secret about the east wing, Hange inquired about the other locked rooms. When she asked Levi about this, he predictably shrugged and told her that it was none of her business. When Hange asked other occupants of the castle, Connie spilled out the actual reason why the rooms weren’t opened. It turned out that they were extremely dirty and since Captain didn’t have enough stuff to keep them clean, he decided to just hide those rooms behind closed doors. Hange knew she should stop being shocked at how much of a clean-freak Levi was, but he was such a big and scary creature, and his love for cleanliness always surprised and bewildered Hange.

Otherwise, her life in the castle was surprisingly peaceful. After that fight in the dining room, she tried not to engage with Levi much. She was still very curious about his nature, but she did not dare to ask him any questions about it. Instead she turned to his squad, bombarding them with endless questions. They were always patient with her and answered her questions to the best of their abilities, but it still wasn’t enough to satisfy Hange’s hunger. She tried to ignore it, though, seeing no other way to find out about the Beast more.

Even though, some of them tried to chide Hange’s attitude towards Levi, she quickly became friends with other inhabitants of the Beast’s castle. Hange liked them – she found Historia to be very cute and she always watched her bickering with Ymir with an amused smile. Hange liked Sasha’s ability to always stay positive and upbeat, she enjoyed Eren’s enthusiasm, even though their opinions on Levi varied wildly. And despite her emotionless voice and cold eyes reminding Hange too much of her captor, she saw how different Mikasa was from Levi. The girl was actually kind and very nice, caring deeply about all of her friends. Connie’s jokes and his endless mischief always managed to put a smile on Hange’s face and she loved how outspoken and direct Jean was, always telling everyone what exactly was on his mind. And little Armin was Hange’s favorite, his gentle and thoughtful nature reminded Hange of Moblit and Hange always felt a sense of melancholy when she watched him. She missed her friends immensely, not just Moblit, she longed to see Erwin’s determined gaze and watch him smile softly on her, she wanted to feel Mike’s suffocating hug and hear him sniffing her discreetly. She desired to listen to Nanaba’s delighted laugh and see her soft, gentle smile.

* * *

One day, almost two weeks after she was imprisoned here, Hange was walking around the castle with a book in her hands. The castle library was closed, but Hange managed to find some interesting stuff on the bookshelf in her room.

As she was reading one especially interesting paragraph, her eyes darted upwards. And then they widened in surprise. In her wonderings, Hange came to the huge stairwell in the middle of the castle. The stairwell divided into two parts – one led to the west wing, where Hange’s bedroom was and another one led to the east wing, the doors to which were always closed.

Until now.

Because as Hange took a better look, she saw a small gap between two large doors. She looked around, making sure she was alone in the hall. She saw no one and she couldn’t hear a single sound, indicating that someone was nearby. Uncertainly, she took a small step towards the big door. And another one, and then another one, until she was standing in front of a threshold. She glanced back once more, and assured than there was no one there but her, she slowly pushed the door open.

Hange walked slowly through a lengthy corridor. It looked just like the corridor to her bedroom, although this one was much darker with no candlelight to illuminate Hange’s way. As she had expected, most of the rooms were closed, however Hange could see that one of the doors was slightly ajar. She hurried there, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

When she entered it, she saw a bedroom very similar to hers. It also contained a bed, a table and a bookshelf. Hange wondered if that was Levi’s room. She didn’t know where he spent most of his days, as the only time she saw a man were during their joined breakfasts and dinners.

The room was dark, only pale moonlight illuminating it. Hange stepped further, carefully inspecting her surroundings. She was wrong thinking that Levi’s room was the same as hers. Unlike her room, Levi’s contained a big wide balcony that overlooked the castle’s gardens. As Hange went closer to the balcony, she saw a glass lid, standing on the table.

There was a flower inside of it, a red rose. Maybe the flower used to be beautiful and majestic, but now most of its petals were gone and Hange felt a wave of sadness wash over her at the sight of it. There was something in that room, not only the half-dead flower, that gave Hange a sense of melancholy. As she wondered why Levi kept the flower, Hange suddenly remembered Armin’s words.

_He has a thing for roses._

What exactly had he meant by it?

Hange wanted to open the lid and take a closer look on the flower. However, the moment she put her hand on the glass surface, she heard the door open.

She whirled around and looked in panic as Levi slowly made his way inside the room. Hange saw the moment he finally noticed her in the darkness. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched into tight fists.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” his voice was so, so cold, Hange thought she had seen an angry Levi before, but now he was so much angrier. He didn’t shout at her, though, instead his voice was quiet and deathly calm.

Hange gulped, thinking how to get out of this situation. She decided to tell Levi the truth. “I… the door was opened, and I decided to take a peak…”

“I forbade you from entering this part of castle,” Levi said and he was still abnormally calm. Hange would have very much preferred if he started shouting at her. She would have known then how to deal with him. But this almost tranquil Levi unnerved her more than she was willing to admit.

“Why do you have a flower in a lid?” Hange asked suddenly. Levi was already angry with her and he already caught her in his room. Hange might as well find out the purpose of that mysterious rose.

Levi’s eyes sparkled with fury at Hange’s words. “Get out!” he screamed at her.

Hange stared at him in shock, not knowing what to do. The change in him was so sudden. When Hange continued to just stand there, unmoving, Levi growled and grabbed her wrist.

“I said _get out!_ ” he pushed Hange forward, she stumbled and fell to her knees.

“Go away!” Levi continued to shout at her, looming over her body on the floor.

“Calm down, Levi! It’s just a flower, what the fuck got you so angry?” Hange shouted back.

Levi turned away from her. Even in the dark room, Hange could see how his shoulders shook in fury.

“Get up and go away,” he said in a quiet voice that was full of anger. “Get out of my castle and never come back. I never wish to see your face ever again.”

“Huh?” his words managed to confuse Hange once more. “W-what about my punishment? Does that mean I’m free?”

Levi turned to look at her with wild eyes. “Just shut up and go away already!” he roared at her.

Hange nodded and slowly got up to her feet, all the while maintaining direct eye contact with Levi. There was something very wrong with him, and maybe Hange would have tried to calm him down, but he obviously refused her help.

After she turned away from him, Hange ran out of the room and out of the castle. Levi granted her freedom to her and she didn’t want to spend another second in that cursed castle.

* * *

As Hange was making her way through the woods, she cursed herself for forgetting to take her cloak. She exited the castle too swiftly not thinking about how exactly she would get back to her village. The forest was deep and dark and Hange didn’t remember the road too well. To make matters worse, the snow, which was slowly falling down since early morning, now turned into a full-blown blizzard. The wind was blowing heavily and it was hard for Hange to walk in such weather. Not mentioning that she was freezing cold, as her thin shirt and pants did nothing to protect her from the snow.

It was getting hard to see, as her glasses were covered in wet snow, but Hange stubbornly moved forward, not ready to accept her defeat just yet. Besides, there was nothing else for her to do. She doubted she would meet another human being in that kind of weather during the middle of the night. And she would rather freeze to death in the forest than return to Levi’s castle.

Hange couldn’t get Levi out of her head. She couldn’t understand his strange behavior and she couldn’t see the reason for his sudden outrage. Maybe she shouldn’t have disobeyed him and broken into his room, but what was so damn important about that flower? Why was he so damn secretive about it?

Hange’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud growling. She instantly thought about Levi, but she quickly dismissed it. He sent her away, what reason did he have to follow her through the forest? Besides, the growl sounded different, more animalistic.

Panic slowly began to overwhelm Hange, what if that were wolves? How should she defend herself? She had nothing she could hit them with or throw at them and there was no way she would be able to outrun the wolf in that weather. Her eyes frantically moved around, searching for the enemies. She heard them rather than saw. The quiet, careful footsteps and a low, hungry growling. Her attackers moved from all sides, slowly circling Hange. And all Hange could do was to look at them in terror, having no idea on how to save her life.

* * *

Levi sat in his armchair, brooding in the dark room. Hard as he tried, he couldn’t get Hange out of his head. The goddamn four-eyes irritated him more than any other person ever did. Her constant disobedience and unwillingness to respect him drove him crazy. What annoyed him even more was the fact that he didn’t hate Hange. He tried to, _wanted to_ , but he couldn’t. As annoying as she was, Levi couldn’t help but admire her.

Since their first meeting, when she stood her ground before him, staring into his eyes defiantly and without an inch of fear, Levi was amazed by her. He had never seen a person who was more fearless than her. He was a beast, a monster, whose hands were strong enough to rip off her spine and whose claws were sharp enough to scratch out those big eyes of hers. But Hange didn’t seem to care about it, stubbornly refusing to be afraid of him, challenging him again and again without thinking of repercussions.

She didn’t treat him like monster, she treated him like he was still human and Levi… Levi needed that more than he was willing to admit. When he looked at Hange, when he watched how she was talking with his subordinates, smiling softly and laughing carelessly, he felt like maybe… maybe Hange could actually be _the one._

But he knew it could never be, Hange loathed him and he more than deserved all of her ill feelings. He tried to treat her with more kindness and consideration, but he didn’t know how. Maybe, he was a beast for too long and forgot how to act like a human. Or maybe he was always like that and that’s why he was cursed in the first place.

Levi’s troubling thoughts were interrupted by an insistent knocking on his door. He signed, getting up to open it. He really didn’t want to deal with his subordinates tonight.

“It’s almost midnight,” he grumbled at them. “What do you want from me?”

“Is that true?” Sasha asked quietly. “Did you really let Lady Hange go?”

Levi sighed. He definitely didn’t want to talk about _that._

He crossed his hands on his chest, glaring at the newcomers. “I did, so what of it?”

For a moment, Sasha, Jean, Connie, Eren, Armin and Mikasa all hanged their heads in defeat. Levi guessed that Hange was their last hope on breaking the curse. The time was running out, after all.

“She left without her cloak,” Connie suddenly remembered. “In that weather she would freeze out to death!”

“And she could easily get lost in the dark,” Jean added.

Armin gasped. “The wolves!” he shouted in panic. “What if she stumbles upon their lair? They would tear her to pieces!”

Levi shook his head as images of Hange’s torn body suddenly filled his mind. He looked at his subordinates and all of them were staring pleadingly at him. Even Mikasa’s gaze was filled with implore. Levi hanged his head, he knew what he had to do, even if she hated him, he couldn’t let Hange die, he would never forgive himself if he did.

“Captain, you will help her get to her village safely, right?” Eren asked.

Levi cursed under his breath, but gave a curt nod. He pushed past them, walking out of his room and heading to the forest, determined to find and protect Hange.

* * *

Finding Hange proved to be harder than Levi anticipated. He hoped to follow Hange by using her footprints, but the heavy snow quickly erased all signs of Hange’s presence. Levi growled in frustration as he thought where to start his search. He knew the forest well enough, but how could he see Hange in the dark?

Levi decided to start from the wolves’ lair, too worried that Hange could accidently walk in there.

As he hurriedly made his way, Levi cursed himself. If it wasn’t for their stupid fight, if Levi didn’t let his anger get the best of him, none of it would happen.

“Four-eyes!” he cried out, trying to be louder than the wind’s howling. “Hange, where are you?!”

No one answered him, but Levi continued to shout as he was beginning to approach the wolves’ lair.

Levi heard them before he was able to see them. The low growling and the quiet moans of pain raised the hair on Levi’s back. Getting on his fours, he sprinted to the source of the sound, desperate to get there in time.

* * *

When Hange heard another set of footsteps, she shivered in fear. She couldn’t yet see the beast, but judging by the sound of its pawns hitting the ground as it approached them quickly, it was a big creature, possibly bigger that her current attackers. Maybe, it was their leader? Coming to finish off their prey?

Hange breathed heavily, trying to fend off the animals, using a stick she found. The stick didn’t do much to help as Hange was already bitten a few times and her wounded legs and arms hurt as the blood was slowly oozing from them.

A moment later, one of the wolves jumped onto her, making her fall to the ground. The wolf bared his sharp and long teeth at Hange. She tried to fight him with a stick, defending herself with it, but suddenly she felt as another wolf bitted her left side. Hange screamed in pain, releasing the stick from her hands.

The wolf seemed to grin as he looked down on his completely helpless victim. Hange closed her eyes, accepting that it was probably the end for her. A shame really, Hange thought fleetingly, to die like this when she just managed to escape from Levi.

A moment passed and Hange felt no teeth biting into her flesh, she stopped feeling the heavy weight of the wolf’s body on her and she slowly opened her eyes, wondering what has happened.

Her eyes immediately met with Levi’s and Hange stared at him confusion. If Hange didn’t know him better, didn’t know how cold he was, she’d think that he was looking at her with worry in his gaze.

“Hange, look at me,” Levi carefully and almost gently took her face into his hands. “Are you okay?”

And Hange probably lost too much blood or maybe it was due to the cold, but her lips slowly curved into a smile. “You called me Hange.” She whispered and then closed her eyes, losing her consciousness.

* * *

Hange slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, looking around in confusion. She woke up in her bedroom in Levi’s castle, so was her night adventure just a dream? Had she imagined everything that had happened – her fight with Levi, her getting lost in the forest and wolfs attacking her? Had she imagined Levi looking at her with worry and fear in his eyes?

The pain in her body told Hange that it was real. Her whole body was aching and when she raised her arms to take a better look at them she saw bandages wrapped around her wounds. Had someone tended to her injuries? Was it Levi?

As Hange sat on her bed, trying to recall last night’s events, the door to her room slowly opened. When she turned her head, Hange saw Levi standing awkwardly on her threshold with a tray of food in his hands.

“So you woke up,” he said quietly as he slowly came closer to her bed. “That’s… that’s a relief. There’s someone who had been very worried about you.”

Before Hange could wonder who exactly Levi meant, he put the tray on her bedside table. Hange smiled, when she saw Armin, Eren and Mikasa staring at her.

“Are you alright, Lady Hange?” Armin asked in urgent tone.

“We were so worried about you!” Eren shouted.

“There was so much blood on you when Captain brought you back.” Mikasa added.

“So it really was you, who saved me?” Hange put on her glasses to take a better look on Levi.

Levi tried to glare at her, but Hange could see how embarrassed he was. “Did you expect me to leave you to die? If you have died it would have been my fault. I may be a monster and an asshole, but I’m not a murderer.”

“You called me Hange last night,” Hange recalled in a soft voice. She realized with a start that she may have been wrong about Levi. She thought of him as cruel and heartless but his yesterday’s actions proved that it wasn’t the truth. Levi cared about people, he even seemed to care about her. He just was very good at hiding it. “Thank you,” she said, smiling gently and looking him in the eyes. Tentatively and slowly she moved her damaged hand so it covered Levi’s giant pawn. Levi tensed under her touch but didn’t move his hand away.

“I… you should thank them not me,” he looked away from Hange, staring at his subordinates. “They made me do it.”

“Oh, really?” Hange’s gaze turned to Eren, Mikasa and Armin. She smiled at them too and gave them a little wink. “Then you also have my biggest gratitude.”

“Sasha, Jean and Connie got lost somewhere,” Armin suddenly remembered. “W-we need to go and find them.”

Eren and Mikasa stared at him in surprise for a moment but then they nodded, carefully hopping off the table.

“We will go and look for them.” Mikasa confirmed, as the three of them started to leave the room.

“Do you need my help?” Levi asked, watching them.

“No, Captain, we’ll be fine!” Eren gave them a radiant smile. “And you still need to change Lady Hange’s bandages.”

“Oi, I can change them myself!” Hange protested.

Levi gave her a doubtful look. “I think it would be best if I help you, four-eyes.”

As Eren, Mikasa and Armin left the room, Levi slowly began to assist Hange with bandages. Slowly, carefully and with much more gentleness that Hange expected him to have, he unwrapped the bloody cloth. Then he proceeded to clean her wounds with clean water. Hange hissed when the water touched her wounds and Levi looked up at her in alarm.

“Did that hurt?” he asked carefully.

“I’m fine,” Hange tried to smile. “I had worse, you can continue.”

Levi nodded and resumed his work, however now his touches were even more cautious than before.

When he was finished bandaging Hange’s wounds, he stood up, preparing to leave. Hange grabbed his hand to stop him.

“Thank you,” she said, looking up at him. She stared into his eyes, hoping Levi would see that she actually meant it.

He nodded swiftly and looked away. “About yesterday…” he began uncertainly.

“I shouldn’t have broken into your room,” Hange hanged her head in shame.

“And I shouldn’t have reacted so wildly. And I didn’t actually mean it, the part where I told you to leave.”

“So I am still not free?” Hange asked, although she was surprised to hear that her voice didn’t sound as sad as it should have been.

Levi was quiet for a minute, contemplating his answer. “A month.” He told her finally. “Stay here for a month and then you will be free.”

“A month?” Hange repeated, perplexed. She wasn’t expecting that. A month was a ridiculously short amount of time, but it wasn’t like she was going to ask Levi to give her a harsher punishment. “Alright then, I’ll stay here for a month.”

“Good.” Levi nodded and then left her room. 

* * *

Next morning Hange was woken up by Historia’s panicked voice.

“Lady Hange! Lady Hange!” She called urgently. “You need to wake up! There is someone who wants to see you!”

“Huh?” Hange asked sleepily. “If it’s Levi, tell him he can come in.”

“It’s not Captain!” Sasha jumped onto Hange’s bed. She was obviously in the same state of worry as Historia. “Some people came into our castle and they’re demanding to see you! Please, Lady Hange, you’ve got to hurry up before Captain sees them!”

Hange nodded and put on her glasses, getting up from the bed and walking out of the room as quickly as it was possible with her wounded leg. It hurt when Hange put too much pressure on it, so she had to awkwardly limp to the hallway. But Sasha was right, whoever decided to enter the castle, if Levi sees them, he would get furious.

When Hange saw who exactly was standing in the hallway, she had to stop and rub her eyes to make sure she wasn’t still dreaming. Because right in front of Hange stood Erwin, Mike, Moblit and Nanaba, her dear and beloved friends. A huge grin appeared on Hange’s face as she gazed at them.

When her friends saw Hange, their eyes widened in shock and Moblit even gasped.

“Hange!” he cried out as he ran up to her. He took her hands into his and inspected her injuries. “Did that beast do that to you? I’ll make him pay for hurting you!”

“Oi, Moblit, stop,” Hange chuckled awkwardly. “It wasn’t Levi who hurt me, I was attacked by a pack of wolves. He actually saved me.”

“Levi?” Erwin asked. “That’s the name of the Beast?”

Hange nodded. “Yes, he’s actually not that bad. Once you get to know him.” Hange looked at her friends again and couldn’t contain all the feelings she had at finally seeing them. “I’ve missed you so much!” she beckoned them to come closer to her and then she enveloped all of them in a big group hug.

“We’ve missed you too,” Erwin said with a warm smile. He patted Hange’s head affectionally and she giggled in reply.

“You still smell the same,” Mike told her as he put his nose into her hair and inhaled her smell.

“Oi, Mike, that’s disgusting,” Nanaba chided and all of them laughed.

Hange relished in the feeling of her friends so close to her. Their presence warmed her in the cold hallway.

Hange enjoyed the hug and she would have to like to stay like that for a long time. Unfortunately, a second later she heard a deep, gruff voice behind them.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

Hange whirled around and stared at Levi in shock. She didn’t know what to say to explain the situation and the fact that both Erwin and Mike unsheathed their swords, ready to attack, didn’t help to diffuse it.

The situation became even worse when Levi’s eyes landed on Moblit.

“You!” Levi hissed as his eyes narrowed dangerously. “I told you not to show your ugly face here anymore!”

Hange took a step towards Levi, cautiously placing her hands on his shoulders as she carefully watched his expression. Levi’s face wasn’t contorted in fury anymore, instead he widened his eyes, shocked by the sudden closeness between him and Hange. “Calm down, Levi, they’re my friends who just came to see me.”

“Actually, Hange,” Erwin spoke in calm, commanding voice. “We came to free you from your captivity.”

Levi tensed under Hange’s touch. He pushed her away and came to stand directly in front of Erwin, glaring at him intensely.

“I’d like to see you try,” he said in a low voice, standing closely to Erwin. Erwin was a very tall man, but he wasn’t nearly as tall as Levi, so as a result the beast loomed over him, but Erwin didn’t seem to be intimidated.

Erwin gripped his sword tighter, and Hange rushed over to the two men. She stood between them with her hands on both of their chests, pushing them apart.

“There is no need for that,” she gritted. “I appreciate your help, guys,” Hange smiled fondly at her friends. “But I won’t go home with you.”

“You won’t?” Levi and Moblit asked in unison, both men equally confused by Hange’s words.

“I won’t,” Hange nodded. “I promised to Levi that I’ll stay here for a month, and I intend on keeping that promise.”

“So you won’t return home with us?” Moblit asked disbelievingly.

Hange smiled gently at him. “I’ll be back in a month.”

“If that’s your decision,” Erwin shrugged and then hid his sword, beside him Mike did the same. Erwin looked up and smiled at Levi. “Please, forgive us for our intrusion, my friends and I were just worried about Hange.”

Levi, who a moment ago, was staring at Hange with wide eyes, shook his head. “Whatever,” he muttered and then signed, starting to walk away. When no one followed him, he cursed and turned around to glare at them. “Well, what are you waiting for? Since you’ve come into my castle, then you are my guests now. The least I can do is feed you a breakfast.”

Hange laughed at his bluntness and then took Erwin and Moblit by the hand, leading them to the dinner room.

* * *

The breakfast was quite tense. To describe it mildly. Levi was glaring murderously at Moblit, his eyes almost never leaving his slightly shaking form. Moblit tried to ignore Levi’s furious stare as he busied himself with a cup of tea. His hand, which was holding the cup, was shaking lightly every time he tried to take a sip.

Erwin tried to spark up a conversation, asking Levi polite questions about his estate. Levi mostly ignored him, muttering something absent-mindedly, and after a few attempts Erwin stopped trying, focusing on the food in front of him. Mike just silently consumed his breakfast, ignoring everyone else’s stupid behavior.

In the meanwhile, Hange enjoyed her conversation with Nanaba as the woman had been filling Hange in on everything she had missed during her stay at Levi’s castle. Hange listened to her friend with a warm smile, thinking about how much she missed the sound of Nanaba’s soft voice.

Everyone around the table breathed out the sign of relief when the breakfast was over. No one was more relieved than poor Moblit, who, after getting up from the table, hurried to stand behind Erwin and Mike, hiding behind their wide shoulders.

Erwin walked up to Levi, extending his hand out. “We thank you dearly for your hospitality,” he looked down at his still outstretched hand and then at Levi, who didn’t make a move to accept it and regarded Erwin with his hands crossed on his chest. Erwin shook his head, chuckling softly. “We will depart now,” he said and when he raised his head to look at Levi, his eyes were full of fierce determination. “But if you ever hurt Hange, remember that we will return and make you pay for that.”

Levi nodded, suddenly looking at Erwin with respect. “While she is at my castle, four-eyes has nothing to be afraid of. I’ll do everything in my power to protect her.” He said, making Hange look up at him in surprise. Before she could ask him to elaborate on that, Levi left the room, giving Hange privacy to say goodbye to her friends.

Hange came closer to them and then gave each of them a tight embrace. She stared at their lovely faces, committing them to memory. She already began to miss their company, maybe it was her decision to stay behind, but her heart hurt at the thought of being separated from her friends once more.

“I’ll be back soon,” she promised with a sad smile.

“We’ll be waiting for you,” Erwin replied, gazing softly at her. Then he waved his hand and turned around, the others following his action. “Take care, Hange,” he told her, before leaving the castle.

* * *

The evening of that day, Hange spent in her room, curled up in an armchair with a book. She still felt a bit melancholy after today’s events and even the pleasant chatter of Connie, Jean and Sasha or the adorable bickering between Historia and Ymir couldn’t cheer her up. Seeing that she wasn’t in a mood today, ex-members of Levi’s squad left Hange alone, not knowing how to make her smile.

As Hange continued to read the book, not exactly following the plot as her mind was elsewhere, she heard a quiet knock on her door.

Hange looked up, staring at the door in confusion. She recognized Levi’s knock, but she couldn’t guess what he wanted from her so late at night.

Closing the book, Hange took of her glasses, tiredly rubbed on her eyes and called out. “Come in!”

A second later, the door opened and Levi entered the room. He looked at Hange hesitantly as he quietly asked her. “Are you busy? I have something I want to show you.”

Hange’s eyes lightened up as her curiosity perked up. “What is it?” she asked eagerly, putting her glasses back on her face.

Instead of answering, Levi came to stand close to her. Wordlessly, he handed her a mirror.

Hange cocked her head to the side, staring at him in confusion. Was it Levi’s way of telling her she should take better care about her appearances? Weird, usually he was much more direct.

“Why are you giving me the mirror?” Hange eyed Levi carefully.

He let out a quiet growl. “It’s not a simple mirror, four-eyes. Just… take it and see it for yourself.”

Hange took the mirror from his hands, expecting it with interest. And Levi was right, it wasn’t a simple mirror. The glass surface didn’t show Hange’s reflection, instead it showed a dark room and two men, who sat close to each other, talking about something quietly. Hange couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but she immediately recognized Erwin and Mike.

“How?” she asked breathlessly, not looking away from the reflection.

Before Levi could answer her, the image changed and Hange gasped when it showed Nanaba, who was drinking tea on her porch and petting her big white cat, who was sitting on her lap. Hange chuckled and stared fondly at the adorable scene. In the next moment, the reflection changed again and Hange saw another person. She recognized the cabinet in her old house. There stood Moblit, busy with cleaning out Hange’s table. He studied each paper and parch carefully before deciding which one he can throw out. Hange watched him with a fond look in her eyes, before putting the mirror down and glancing up at Levi with the same gentle expression.

“What’s this?” she asked him again.

Levi scratched the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable by Hange’s impossibly soft smile. “It’s a magic mirror,” he told her gruffly. “It shows you the people you care about most in the world.”

Hange took Levi’s large pawns into her own arms, squeezing them tightly. “Thank you,” she said with feeling. “I… I really needed that.”

“Don’t mention it,” Levi looked away from Hange’s beautiful eyes, that seemed to sparkle in the candlelight. “I don’t need it anyway.”

Then he quite forcefully tore his hands out of Hange’s tight hold and turned around, swiftly making his way out of the room. “Goodnight, Hange.” He told her before disappearing behind the door. Hange probably just imagined it, but his voice seemed to sound more soft and gentle than usual.

* * *

One morning, when Hange and Levi had finished their breakfast, Levi asked her to follow him. Curious, Hange immediately rose up from her seat, excited to see what Levi wanted to show her. When they were nearly out of the dining room, Levi stopped and glared at Hange.

“Take them off,” he told her sternly.

“Huh?” Hange’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Take what off?”

Levi quietly growled in frustration. “Your glasses, Hange! You need to take them off.”

“But I wouldn’t be able to see anything without them!”

“That’s exactly the point! C’mon, just do it, four-eyes!”

“Fine,” Hange huffed in exasperation. She obeyed Levi’s request, hiding the glasses inside her pocket. Then she turned to Levi, glaring at him. “Satisfied now?”

“Almost,” he said as he came to stand behind Hange. He raised his hands to her head and asked quietly. “Do you trust me?”

Hange nodded immediately, not hesitating even for a second. Her quick response surprised even her, but as she gave it some thought, she realized that she really did trust Levi. Maybe, she thought of him as an asshole and monster before, seeing only the bad side of him, but after he saved her in the forest, her opinion of him changed drastically. When she stopped trying to see Levi as a monster, she started to notice how gentle and caring he could be. Sure, he had some temper management problems, but wasn’t Hange the same? In truth, Levi only tried to act cool and reserved, but actually he was a very kind, if a little awkward, person.

“Alright,” Levi said, breaking Hange out of her thoughts. His voice was quieter and softer than usually.

In the next moment, his giant pawns gently covered Hange’s eyes. “Let’s go then,” he whispered in Hange’s ear before he started leading her.

They walked out of the dining room, then went up the stairs, made a few turns before Levi finally stopped, kicking the door opened with his leg. He pushed Hange a little further and then took his hands of her face.

“You can look now,” he said in the same weird voice, taking a step back.

Hange slowly opened her eyes, taking her glasses out of the pocket and putting them on her face. Her mouth opened in surprise, as she glanced around the room.

She stood in the middle of a big, spacious library, the walls of which were filled with rows and rows of book. The sun shone through the clean windows, its beams dancing on the white floor.

“Levi!” Hange turned to look at him, her eyes shining with happiness. “That’s… that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen! I…” Hange still couldn’t believe her eyes. She had been to a few of the most prestigious universities in her kingdom, but she had never seen such an extensive book collection.

Not able to hold her emotions anymore, she laughed happily and launched herself at Levi, nearly suffocating his large body in her tight embrace.

“I’m so happy right now, Levi,” she whispered somewhere in his shoulder. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing,” Levi awkwardly mumbled. His hand hesitantly reached to pat Hange’s back. “Half of these books are Armin’s anyway.”

Hange withdrew from him a little, enough to look in Levi’s eyes. “I know it’s been your idea, Levi, don’t try to deny it.”

“Whatever,” Levi shied away from Hange’s knowing eyes. “But I’m not the only one who did it. The brats helped to clean that room, it’s been a while since anyone stepped in here.”

Hange continued to look fondly at Levi, although her gaze started to dart upwards towards the bookshelves. Levi rolled his eyes and softly pushed her away from him.

“Just go already,” he told her, trying and failing to keep the softness from his voice. “I know your nerd ass is dying to take a look at all that shit.”

“Thank you again, Levi!” Hange gave him another happy grin and then pounced off to the nearest bookshelf.

Levi leaned against the wall, watching Hange’s movements with amusement. She jumped from one bookshelf to another, tracing the backs of the books with her finger, reading their names aloud. She seemed to forget about Levi’s presence completely, but Levi didn’t mind it. Instead he stood there, admiring from afar her endless enthusiasm and excitement.

* * *

Time was moving fast for Hange as she genuinely enjoyed her stay in Levi’s castle. Soon she forgot that she was supposed to be Levi’s prisoner and took immense pleasure in his company. Although, she still missed her friends, sometimes spending her nights staring at the magic mirror Levi gave her, she liked hanging out with the kids and watching their shenanigans with a warm smile. Hange often helped them with their chores, and in the evenings all of the castle’s occupants gathered in the big library, where Hange read them aloud one of the many interesting books she found on the towering shelves. Levi came to her readings too, sitting as close to Hange as he dared and listening to her soothing voice. It always surprised him how her voice, usually so loud and screeching, became so soft and relaxing when she was reading.

Day by day, Hange started to spend more time with Levi, learning more about his nature and his past. Although, he didn’t like talking about his previous life as a human, only retelling her some of the funny stories, concerning his squad. Levi never talked about his curse, as well, shutting down Hange’s every attempt at finding out the truth. She longed to know the reason for his changing into a beast, so she could help him, but neither he, nor the kids agreed to give her a straight answer.

However, after a lot of pleading and prodding, Levi begrudgingly agreed to some of Hange’s experiments. She couldn’t study him as thorough as she liked without her instruments, which she left back at home, but Hange did what she could to gain a better understanding of Levi’s body. Although, she noticed that her reasoning for it changed. If before she wanted to research Levi to satisfy her thirst for knowledge and to study something no one had ever seen before, now she did it in hopes of finding the way to reverse the spell.

* * *

A month flew by quicker than Hange expected and soon only a few days left before she was free to leave Levi’s castle. Although, to be honest, she wasn’t as thrilled by that prospect as she should have been. Sure, she longed to reunite with her friends back at the village, but she also didn’t want to leave the occupants of the castle, feeling that she was going to miss them as much as she missed her human friends.

Hange spent that days feeling melancholy, already unwilling to be separated from her new friends. However, her mood was lifted considerably, when she found out that Levi and his squad was planning something for the evening before her departure. Firstly, Hange noticed that all of them were absent during the day and hard as she tried, poking her head into every opened room and looking for any living soul in the vast castle, she couldn’t find where they were hiding. Hange went to her room to ask Historia and Ymir about strange disappearances, but both of them refused to tell her where they went. Historia, winking and looking at Hange smugly, promised she would find everything out soon.

Her second clue was a mysterious package, given to her by Levi. When Hange’s hands immediately tried to rip it open, Levi gripped her arms, looking at her sternly.

“Do not open it until I say so,” he told her in a low voice. Remembering that Hange was an impossible woman, who loved to defy his every word, he softened his look, adding a quiet “Please.”

Hange rolled her eyes at him, freeing her hand and snatching the package from Levi. “Fine,” she said with exasperation. “I promise not to open it. Cross my heart and hope to die,” she finished, grinning at Levi mischievously.

It was Levi’s turn to roll his eyes. “You can open it on the evening before your departure.”

“Why?” she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. “Are you planning something?”

“Maybe,” Levi gave her a slight smirk. “You’ll find it all out in two days.”

* * *

Two days had passed and after she had her last dinner in Levi’s castle, Hange returned to her room to open the enigmatic package that had been plaguing her mind this whole time. She carefully tore the wrapping, revealing a gorgeous suit. She stared at it for a moment, surprised and confused. What was this? Should she wear it? Did Levi want her to wear it?

He asked her to come back to the dining room after opening the package, so Hange guessed she needed to put it on before returning downstairs. As Hange looked closely at the suit, she noticed it was very similar to Levi’s usual clothes, although hers were smaller and they had a different color. The suit looked much fancier, too. Hange looked at it for another minute, adoring the bright color of her yellow doublet and her fine light green pants.

She started to take off her shirt to change her clothes, when Historia’s soft voice stopped her.

“Wait, Lady Hange!” when Hange looked at the girl, she gave her a sheepish smile. “The boys prepared a bath for you. Not that I’m saying you are dirty!” she said in panic. “B-but Captain Levi would like if you did that.”

Hange chuckled, turning to head to the bathroom instead. “Fine, I guess I’ll indulge that clean-freak for one last time.”

After Hange took a bath, put on her clothes and styled in her hair in _a slightly_ better fashion, there was nothing left for her to do other than going downstairs to see Levi. But for some reason, she felt incredibly anxious about that. She kept checking herself in the mirror again and again, looking for any sign of imperfections in her attire. Hange realized with a start that she really wanted to impress Levi, to please him with her appearance, and that was why she felt so worried. She knew she was no beauty, far from it, even when her hair wasn’t greasy and her clothes were tidy, it was hard to call her pretty. Her nose was too long, her shoulders too wide and her breasts too small, making her look like a man. Usually she didn’t care about, had never cared about that, but tonight she wanted Levi to like her, she wanted him to think of her as beautiful.

Hange shook her head furiously, trying to get this kind of thoughts out of her mind. What was she even thinking? Levi was her friend, and even if Hange stopped seeing him as a beast and started admiring his kindness and inner strength, that didn’t mean Levi felt the same way about her. Levi was probably happy to finally get rid of her and that’s why he was planning some event tonight.

Yes, Hange convinced herself, straightening her shoulders. There is no way Levi actually likes her, so there was no need for her to fuss over her looks. Hange took another deep breath and then walked out of the room.

As Hange was descending from the stairway, she saw Levi standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her. Hange was shocked to see that he changed his clothes too and wore a nice blue suit that looked much better than his usual one. Hange had to admit that for a giant hairy beast, Levi cleaned up… very nicely.

Levi was watching her with wide eyes and when Hange came closer to him, he gallantly took her hand into his and began leading the way.

“Where are we going?” Hange asked excitingly.

“Wait for another goddamn minute, will you, four-eyes?” Levi told her impatiently.

Hange giggled at his annoyance, but obediently kept her mouth shut, silently following Levi.

Levi led Hange to the big doors, which before were always closed. When they came to stand in front of them, Sasha and Connie opened the doors, letting Hange and Levi in.

Hange couldn’t hold in her sign of surprise, as she marveled at the room in front of her. It was a big, ample ballroom. The warm candlelight illuminated the glass floor and golden walls. It looked like something out of a fairy-tale and suddenly Hange felt like a true princess.

“Is that what you’ve been doing this whole time?” she asked quietly, her voice full of awe.

“We needed to make this place look presentable,” Levi grumbled, too embarrassed by Hange’s reaction.

Suddenly the music started to play and Levi bowed before Hange, outstretching his hand towards her.

“Hange, will you honor me with a dance?” his voice was quiet, but full of emotion and Hange’s hand trembled slightly, when she accepted his invitation.

They started to slowly move around the room, their hands pressed against each other. Hange’s heart beat so fast in her chest, she couldn’t think of a way to tease Levi. All she could do was to stare deeply in his eyes, surprised by the intensity in his gaze.

“Didn’t think you know how to dance,” Hange commented softly, as Levi spun her around.

“Well, you clearly don’t know how to do that,” Levi winced slightly as Hange stepped on his feet.

She giggled before shooting him an apologizing look. “I’m sorry! There was not a lot of time for dancing in my life.”

Levi nodded. “As there wasn’t in mine.”

Hange looked at him with understanding. Levi told her some things about his past, about his troubled childhood and youth. His countless hardships and losses didn’t turn Levi into a cruel man, but instead made him stronger and kinder. Even if he constantly tried to hide that kindness behind rude words and cold eyes. When Hange finally managed to look behind that mask, she found a sympathetic and soft man, whom she respected and admired.

When the music ended, Levi didn’t let go of Hange’s hand as he began to lead her towards the large balcony.

“Did you enjoy this evening?” he asked her tentatively.

“Of course!” Hange exclaimed. “It was wonderful, Levi. It’s one of the best nights in my life!”

Levi looked at her in disbelief. “You actually mean it?”

Hange nodded, smiling brightly at him. Then she raised her head to look up at the night sky. She emitted a deep sigh.

“I’m gonna miss all of it,” she confessed quietly. “C-can I…” she began uncertainly, looking at Levi shyly. “Can I visit you and the others?”

Levi’s eyes widened. “What?” he asked, looking at Hange with shock. “You want to return to this place?”

“Well, yes,” Hange admitted. “I had a great time here, and I’m gonna miss the kids and… you.” She added in a soft whisper.

Levi looked at her, not knowing what to say. After a long minute of silence, he turned away from Hange, stepping out of the balcony.

“It’s getting late,” he said in a cold tone, which Hange hasn’t heard for a while. “You are leaving in the morning, you need to get a good night’s sleep.”

Hange stared at his retreating form, not understanding what had happened. They had such a beautiful evening, what had caused Levi to leave so abruptly? Had she done something wrong? Had she said the wrong thing?

Hange signed, shaking her head, and followed after Levi. She wanted to talk to him, to ask what had happened, but he left the ballroom before she had a chance to catch up. Hange watched how he swiftly made his way up the stairs and then disappeared behind the big door that led to the east wing, not even once glancing in her direction.

Feeling confused and saddened, Hange headed to her own room. She changed into her night clothes and laid on her bed, still thinking about Levi’s weird behavior. She wanted to ask Historia and Ymir about it, but both girls were strangely quiet tonight, and when Hange greeted them upon entering the room, they sounded sorrowful.

Hange didn’t dare to ask about their reason for sadness and instead got up from the bed, heading to her table. She felt melancholic and she wanted to take a look at her magic mirror to see what her friends were doing, in hopes that it would cheer her up.

She took the mirror in her hands and saw a dark room. With surprise she recognized Levi’s room. What did that mean? Whenever Hange took a look in the mirror before, it always showed Erwin, Mike, Nanaba or Moblit. Then why it showed Levi now?

And then Hange remembered Levi’s words.

_It shows you the people you care about most in the world._

Did that mean… did that mean that she… Oh. Hange realized suddenly. _Oh no._

She was so surprised by her revelation she nearly dropped the mirror from her hands. She gripped it tightly, glancing again at its reflection. She saw Levi sitting in his armchair, darkness surrounding him. He seemed asleep or deep in his thought.

Hange traced his image with her fingers, slowly coming to terms with her feelings.

She loved Levi, she _loved_ him, somewhere along the way, he stopped being just a monster to her and became a friend, and then he stopped being just a friend as well, as Hange unexpectedly developed a different kind of feelings for him.

Hange wanted, _needed_ to tell him immediately. She almost started marching out of her room and into Levi’s but she remembered the last time she came into his room uninvited. She wouldn’t be able to confess to him, if they start shouting at each other. _But_ she could also tell him in the morning, Hange reasoned, returning to her bed.

She would wake up tomorrow and immediately head to Levi, telling him everything her heart felt about him.

* * *

In the morning of next day, Hange quickly gathered all of her belongings and headed downstairs, determined to talk to Levi during breakfast. But to her surprise, the dining room was empty when she entered it. When Hange saw Jean, Sasha, Connie, Eren, Armin and Mikasa, discussing something in hush voices, she hurried to them. 

“Hey, guys!” Hange greeted them warmly. “Do you know where Levi is? I need to talk to him.”

“Um…” Eren looked embarrassedly away, glancing at Armin and nudging the boy lightly.

“Captain doesn’t feel very good,” Jean explained. “He asked us to leave him alone for today.”

“What?” Hange cried out. “Is he ill? Does he need some medical attention?”

“It’s alright, Lady Hange,” Armin smiled gently. “You shouldn’t worry about him, or us,” he added in a small voice. “A long road awaits you, I would suggest you to start it as early as possible, so you would get to your village by nightfall.”

Hange stared at him in confusion, before hanging her head in disappointment. She really needed to speak with Levi, but if he didn’t want to see her, there was no way she could force him.

She sighed, picking up her luggage and turning away. “Then I guess I should start going. Goodbye, guys. Take care,” she gave them one last smile and then exited the room and left the castle.

* * *

As Armin predicted, it took Hange a long time to return to her home village. She arrived right before the sunset, and when she came to the main gates, she saw Erwin, Mike, Nanaba and Moblit already waiting for her there. Hange was happy to see them, of course, she was, but her last conversation with Levi still hanged over her head.

Hange tried to act as usual, smiling and laughing with her friends at the tavern, but every time she remembered Levi, her gaze was becoming distant as her lips were sliding downwards.

Close to midnight, Hange and her friends tired out and decided to head to their homes. Erwin volunteered to walk Hange to her house, and they were slowly walking through the village.

“You are quiet tonight,” Erwin remarked.

“Am I really?” Hange asked, recalling how at one point of the night she and Mike started to sing obnoxiously, annoying all other patrons at the tavern.

Erwin smiled, probably remembering the same thing. “Yeah, well, you are quieter than usual. Had something happened?”

Hange gazed thoughtfully, contemplating if she should tell Erwin what was on her mind. “I had sort of a fight with Levi,” she told him finally. Erwin was her friend after all and she could always use his wise advice. “I wanted to speak with him before leaving, but he locked himself in his room. His squad told me he was sick, but I feel like he was avoiding me. And now… I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Maybe, you should go and visit him?” Erwin proposed after some time. “I mean he obviously can’t avoid you forever. You are stubborn as a bull, Hange.” Erwin finished with a soft smile.

Erwin’s words raised Hange’s spirits and when she looked at Erwin again, she did so with a big smile on her face. “You are right, Erwin. Levi can’t ignore me forever.”

“I’m glad I was able to help. If you need to travel to the castle, by the way, you can take my horse. You shouldn’t journey that far on foot. Especially, alone.”

Hange stared fondly on her friend before giving him a tight hug. “You are the best, Erwin,” she whispered in his shoulder. “Thank you for everything.”

“You can always count on me,” he replied in the same soft voice. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Right,” Hange agreed, letting go of Erwin. “Well, I’ll head to bed now, it’s been a very long day.”

“Yeah, have a good night, Hange,” Erwin waved at her before turning around and starting to walk away.

When Hange entered her house, she immediately went to grab the mirror Levi had given her. She was actually exhausted, but before falling asleep she wanted to take a look at what Levi was doing right now.

As she took the mirror in her hands, she was met with an image of Levi’s room. It was as dark there as yesterday, but Levi wasn’t sitting down in his armchair anymore. With a gasp, Hange realized he was lying on a floor, as though unconscious. Her throat closed up at the sight and she felt her pulse fasten. What had happened to him?

Without wasting any time, she ran out of her room and headed to Erwin. She banged on his door before he opened it, staring at Hange confusedly.

“I need your horse!” she told him urgently, not giving him the time to ask anything. Seeing the state she was in, Erwin just nodded and immediately started leading Hange to the stables behind his house. He chose his fastest horse for Hange, closing her hands around the reins tightly.

“Whatever is that you are planning to do, be safe,” he told her seriously and Hange smiled at him, grateful for his love and support.

“I’ll try to.” She winked at him before mounting the horse and starting to race towards Levi’s castle.

* * *

The horse galloped quickly through the thick forest, as Hange’s heart hammered in her chest. What had happened to Levi? Would she arrive in time to save him? Was there a way to save him? Hange didn’t know the answers to those questions, but she knew one thing for certain: she would do anything she could to save Levi. She wouldn’t let anything happen to him before he hears out her confession.

As the horse reached the castle gates, Hange jumped from it, running towards the entrance. She pushed the heavy doors open and stopped in the hallway to catch her breath. Connie, Jean and Sasha stared at her in bewilderment.

“Lady Hange?” Sasha hesitantly asked. “Why did you come back?”

“Levi!” Hange cried out desperately. “I need to see him!”

“He’s in his room,” Jean replied, avoiding Hange’s eyes. “But you need to hurry.”

Hange nodded and swiftly ran up the stairs and into Levi’s room. 

When she finally reached it and entered inside, Hange’s eyes immediately found Levi. He was still lying on the floor, Eren, Armin and Mikasa standing anxiously beside him.

“You came back!” Eren exclaimed.

“What happened to him?” Hange asked as she kneeled next to Levi.

“His time is running out,” Armin said sadly.

“What do you mean?” Hange’s heart was beating wildly as she checked Levi’s pulse. It was still there, although it was very slow and Levi didn’t seem to react to her touch.

“The curse was meant to be broken in a hundred years. Today is the last day,” Mikasa explained, looking down.

Hange suddenly noticed there was something clutched in Levi’s hand. It was a rose, she realized with a start. The same rose she saw before, but now all of its petals were gone, the last one hanging on loosely.

“Is there anything I can do? Is there a way to break the curse?”

Eren shook his head. “I don’t think you can help, Lady Hange…”

“But what if she can?” Armin’s eyes lightened up with hope. “Lady Hange, what do you feel about Captain Levi?”

Hange’s cheeks flushed. She wanted to confess to Levi, not to talk about her feelings with his subordinates. But seeing Armin’s pleading face, she couldn’t hide the truth from them. “Ah… he is my friend,” she began awkwardly. “But I also feel something more for him.”

“Maybe, it can actually work…” Mikasa uttered in disbelief.

“What exactly can work?” Hange threw her hands up in exasperation. “I don’t understand!”

“You have to kiss Captain Levi!” Eren blurted out.

“Huh?” Hange stared at them with wide eyes. Did she actually hear them correctly?

“When the witch cursed him, she told that Captain Levi would never find someone who will fall in love with him, so the only way to break the curse is through a true love's kiss,” Armin explained urgently. “Please, Lady Hange, you have to at least try this!”

Hange nodded shakily, taking a deep breath. “Alright,” she agreed slowly, moving closer to Levi.

She put her hands around his face, looking at his peaceful expression. She started to slowly lower her face until her lips were centimeters away from Levi’s. Hange gulped and then hesitantly pressed her mouth against Levi’s, kissing him gently.

The moment her lips touched Levi’s, Hange was blinded by a bright white light. She closed her eyes to protect them and when a moment later she opened them, Levi’s face disappeared. Or maybe not, Hange mused, as she stared at the unfamiliar face in front of her. It was much different from the one Hange grew accustomed to, but when the man opened his eyes, Hange saw the same piercing grey eyes she fell in love with.

“Hange?” Levi asked, hesitantly pressing his hand to Hange’s cheek.

Hange nodded, still staring at Levi disbelievingly, taking in his new appearance. Levi looked different and was much smaller than before, but Hange could still recognize him.

“If I returned to my human form…” Levi began slowly, carefully studying Hange’s face. “Does that mean the spell is broken?”

Hange shrugged. “I guess so.”

“And if you were the one to break it, then it means that you… that you…”

“That I’m in love with you,” Hange finished softly, smiling at Levi’s shocked face.

He stared at her for a short moment and then he launched himself at her, tangling his fingers in her hair and kissing her lips passionately.

When they broke apart, both of them were breathing heavily and Levi smirked, enjoying Hange’s slightly flushed face.

“That was disgusting,” Mikasa grumbled, destroying the moment.

Hange laughed and turned her face to look at the girl. Her laugh died in her throat when instead of a kettle, she saw a beautiful girl in her twenties. Next to her sat two boys, one blonde with blue eyes and the other had messy brown hair and the biggest green eyes Hange had ever seen.

She smiled widely, as she got off from Levi (who growled in displeasure at the loss of contact) and came to hug the three teenagers.

“You all look so cute!” Hange bawled, pressing them tightly to her.

“It’s all thanks to you, Lady Hange,” Armin said, smiling.

In the next moment, the door to Levi’s room burst open and five people walked in. Hange got to her feet and quickly approached them.

“Wait!” she stopped them with a wave of her hand. “Don’t tell me your names, I’ll try to guess them, alright?”

All of them nodded with wide smiles, and Hange’s eyes studied them carefully.

“Obviously, you’re Ymir,” Hange pointed to a tall girl with brown hair and a smirk on her face. “And you’re Historia,” Hange said to the small blonde, who was hugging Ymir by the waist.

Historia nodded with a warm smile, and Hange hummed satisfyingly before turning to the remaining trio.

“You’re Sasha, right?” Hange asked the girl with a ponytail.

“Of course!” Sasha exclaimed happily.

“You’re Connie,” Hange grinned at the bald boy with mischievous smile. “And that means you’re Jean.” Hange finished.

Jean came closer to Hange, taking her hand into his and pressing a kiss on her palm. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.” He told Hange with a smirk.

Suddenly Hange felt a hand circle around her waist, as Levi came to stand beside her. “Watch your hands, Kirschtein,” he muttered darkly, pressing Hange closer to him.

Jean gulped and nodded, immediately taking a step away from Hange.

Hange giggled and punched Levi’s arm. “Didn’t take you for the jealous type,” she whispered in his ear.

“Shut up, four-eyes,” Levi told her harshly, although his eyes gazed at her softly. “Your crazy ass can drive any man insane.”

Hange pressed a small kiss to his cheek. “But you love me for it.”

“Yeah, I do,” Levi agreed, smiling.

Hange smiled in return, not looking away from Levi. She continued to stare at his new body, trying to get used to it.

“You know, Levi,” Hange began, grinning at him mischievously. “I think I liked you better in the beast form. You were so tall and big then, and now…” Hange made a disappointed face, staring down at Levi, who now was at least ten centimeters shorter than her. “I don’t think I love you anymore.”

“Shut the fuck up, Hange,” Levi growled, before giving Hange a once-over and smirking deviously at her. “Or I’ll make you.”

Hange grinned in reply, leaning down to whisper in Levi’s lips. “I’d like to see you try.”

She didn’t need to ask Levi twice as he made the gesture to his squad to get the fuck out of his room and then embraced Hange tightly, pulling her into another passionate kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> if someone actually read this stupid thing, know this: i respect you more than my father and i hope you enjoyed this fic!  
> beauty and the beast is actually one of my favorite disney's fairytales, so i was having a lot of fun writing this thing!


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